Dive Brief:
- South Korea's Samsung Bioepis is seeking $1.3 billion for product development and is considering a NASDAQ IPO as it tries to develop generics of several major biologic drugs.
- Samsung Bioepis is owned by several entities, including Cheil Industries (a holding company), Samsung Electronics, and C&T.
- Analsysts estimate that Samsung Bioepis, which is focused on biosimilar development, has a market value of $7 billion.
Dive Insight:
Samsung has started to focus on biopharma as a future growth driver, and given the success of Bioepis so far in the biosimilar development arena, this is a good risk for this large conglomerate to take. Bioepis is partnered with Merck on biosimilar development, with a focus on biosimilar versions of Amgen's Enbrel and Johnson & Johnson's Remicade (and with early-stage development of biosimilars of Sanofi's Lantus, AbbVie' Humira, and Roche's Herceptin). So far, the two companies have shown successful phase III results for the Enbrel and Remicade biosims in terms of safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetic equivalence.
South Korean listings on U.S. exhanges are rare, because of family-dominated ownership structures and a perceived lack of transparency. However, if Samsung Bioepis does not go the IPO route in order to raise additional funds, the company is also considering other fundraising options.